How much are you guys preparing for interviews?

[salemstein]

The only cure for neurosis is information. I just want to gauge what would be an appropriate amount of preparation, especially going into your first interview. Also, if you're a current student who interviewed during previous cycles, feel free to fire away as well!

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[ChrisMack390]

Not much. I know what I wrote in my app and I know why I want to do this. The only thing I've really been preparing for is "why do you want to come to X University?"

For MMIs, even less. Just know what an MMI is and maybe run through some practice ones (tbh I don't even think that is helpful).



Full disclosure, I personally consider this a strength. If you are shy or struggle with charisma and such, you may need more.

 

[Pinocytosis]

Not much. I know what I wrote in my app and I know why I want to do this. The only thing I've really been preparing for is "why do you want to come to X University?"

For MMIs, even less. Just know what an MMI is and maybe run through some practice ones (tbh I don't even think that is helpful).

Full disclosure, I personally consider this a strength. If you are shy or struggle with charisma and such, you may need more.

Just my two cents (and correct me if I'm wrong), but I believe even MMIs can have a "traditional interview" station where, as the name implies, you are asked traditional interview questions (i.e. "Who are you?", "Why this university?", etc. type questions).

 

[puglover94]

Just my two cents (and correct me if I'm wrong), but I believe even MMIs can have a "traditional interview" station where, as the name implies, you are asked traditional interview questions (i.e. "Who are you?", "Why this university?", etc. type questions).

This is true. The mmi I participated in had one traditional station out of six.

 

[ChrisMack390]

Just my two cents (and correct me if I'm wrong), but I believe even MMIs can have a "traditional interview" station where, as the name implies, you are asked traditional interview questions (i.e. "Who are you?", "Why this university?", etc. type questions).

I have heard of this, yes.

 

[DingoPingo]

Prepared for my first one with practice questions, after that I just looked at secondary essays so I'm not completely clueless about why I applied to the school

 

[Redpancreas]

The only cure for neurosis is information. I just want to gauge what would be an appropriate amount of preparation, especially going into your first interview. Also, if you're a current student who interviewed during previous cycles, feel free to fire away as well!

At minimum, have an idea of what you're going to say if asked the most common questions.

Why medicine
Why this school
What do you bring to the school
Strengths/Weaknesses
What do you do in your spare time
Also, don't be afraid if your interviewer guides you on a tangent. On the flip side, don't get flustered if an interviewer presses you on a particular point. Eye contact is key! Make sure you hold it, but don't make it excessive. In general, you should break eye contact to look down briefly when posed a question to look thoughtful and gather your thoughts.

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I personally outlined my answer to these questions with bullets and thought things through in my head. It may be a good idea to practice in front of one person you trust if you're prone to being nervous when speaking because this will make you more comfortable in the real deal. I think the most important thing I learnt through the process is that nervousness is the worst. Never get nervous during interviews. It won't be a good time. Medicine is a very stressful field to begin with so its important to just stay collected during admissions. Lastly don't overthink any questions, but at the same time don't be too open/revealing.

For MMIs, you can still a prepare a bit. There will always be one station where they ask you about weaknesses or something similar. The ethical ones are unpredictable but the answer is to always appear fair/kind while supporting your answers while staying firm, but acknowledging the merit of the devil's advocate argument if pressed...but then still sticking to your position. Then there's usually a pressure one where the interviewer tries to get you off your game purposefully so just mentally prepare yourself for that.

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[Umyo]

Just go through you application and make sure you can explain why you did something or how it affected you.

Also be sure you know why you want to attend X school.


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[applesaucey]

I never considered myself to be a particularly strong interviewer but I have found that I don't like preparing much, aside from picking out a few things I like about each school before I go. If I think too hard about it, I get stressed out and feel the need to stick to an internal script instead of allowing myself to have a natural conversation. The best preparation for me has been telling myself that they just want to get to know me better as opposed to it being a test.

That being said, I won't know for at least a few more weeks if I've gotten in anywhere so perhaps take this with a grain of salt.

 

[Turkishking]

The only cure for neurosis is information. I just want to gauge what would be an appropriate amount of preparation, especially going into your first interview. Also, if you're a current student who interviewed during previous cycles, feel free to fire away as well!

When time comes, I'll probably go crazy with preparation.

 

[Dr. Jan Itor]

I spent an hour or so going over the bioethics site and probably around 10 hours reading about the ACA and other current health topics. I did get The Premed Playbook do get an idea of other interview questions, but I mostly just skimmed it.

Worked out because ethics and the ACA was the majority of my interview with very few of the "tell me about a time you dealt with conflict" type of questions.


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[spartawdw]

I spent an hour or so going over the bioethics site and probably around 10 hours reading about the ACA and other current health topics. I did get The Premed Playbook do get an idea of other interview questions, but I mostly just skimmed it.

Worked out because ethics and the ACA was the majority of my interview with very few of the "tell me about a time you dealt with conflict" type of questions.


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The "tell me about a time" are my least favorite questions (I once had a job interview with 6 of them in a row). It's so hard to search through all of your experiences mentally and reflect while sitting in front of someone on the spot. Does anyone have any tips for these? I understand you can brainstorm ideas, but sometimes you're thrown things that you did not expect

 

[Cara Delevingne]

Took 2 days off work, one for interview, and one for interview prep. Seemed like that was plenty, assuming you mull over how to approach questions during the application cycle in general. The prep day before is just knowing exactly what points I want to cover when they ask about x, y, or z.

 

[libertyyne]

The "tell me about a time" are my least favorite questions (I once had a job interview with 6 of them in a row). It's so hard to search through all of your experiences mentally and reflect while sitting in front of someone on the spot. Does anyone have any tips for these? I understand you can brainstorm ideas, but sometimes you're thrown things that you did not expect

Protip: they want to know you are a team player, resolves conflict well, will accept responsibility for your mistakes and such. Be prepared to forcefully jam the first instance that you can show those properties to answer the questions.